House-door letter-box



(No Model.) 2 ShetS-Shet 1.

W. C; ORNTON.

' HOUSE LETTER BOX.

No. 475,095. Patented May 17, 1892.

avwenlfoz (No ModeL) w. 0. THORNTON. HOUSE DOOR LETTER BOX.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Patented Maj 17,v 1892.

UNITED STATES PATEN OFFICE.

WILLIAM CLARK THORNTON, OF JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI.

HOUSE-DOOR LETTER-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 475,095, dated May 17,1892.

Application filed June 10,1891. Serial No. 395,774- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM CLARK THORN- TON, residing at JeffersonCity, in the county of Cole and State of Missouri, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Letter-Boxes, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates particularly to an improved delivery-box which isattached to the door or gate of abuilding and in which mailmatter isdeposited by the carrier.

The object of my invention is to provide a device of this character thatshall be thoroughly safe and reliable, weather-proof, one that is cheapand simple in construction and efficient and easy of operation.

A further object of my invention is to render the Various parts asnearly automatic as possible and also to provide an alarm mechanism inconnection'with the box, whereby the inmates of the house may benotified of each delivery.

WVith these various objects in view my invention consists in thepeculiar construction of the several elements and their novelarrangement or combination, all of which will be fully disclosed in thisspecification, and designated in the appended claims.

In the drawings forminga part of this specification, Figure 1 is atransverse vertical section. Fig. 2 is a detail view of the deliverydevice. Fig. 3 is afront view of the box, parts being broken away. Fig.4 shows a somewhat different construction. Fig. 5 is a detail sideelevation illustrating one form of alarm and its relation to theplunger.

My improved delivery-box A is formed of the end pieces a, the forwardside a, and the rear side a the rear side being connected with the dooror gate of the residence, and the forward side also constitutes the topand bottom of the box. About midway the'height of the rear side isproduced a curved portion a and between the end pieces of the box andopposite the said curved portion a is arranged the delivery device 13,said device consisting of two semi-cylindrical sections 1) and b,arranged with their fiat faces adjacent to each other, the upper sectionI) having head-pieces b between which the lower section b is arranged,the said head-pieces turning freely upon the journals of the lowersection b, and the sections are so arranged in relation to each otherthat the upper section has a limited amount of play upon the journals ofthe lower section, the purpose of which will appear farther on. Thejournal at one end of the lower section is provided with a crank 0without the box, and as said journal is rigid with the lower section byturning the crank the said section will be moved according to thedirection of the crank. An inwardly-projecting stop-pin c is arrangedupon the headpiece 12 adjacent to the crank C, and'the end of the lowersection is slotted, as at o, to receive said pin, whereby the downwardmovement of the lower section is limited and the upper section allowedto have a limited play upon said lower section. A second stop-pin c ispassed through the end of the box adjacent to the opposite end of thedelivery device, and the headpiece is slotted, as at 0 to receive saidstoppin, said pin projecting through the headpiece, whereby the upwardor rear move-' ment of the upper section b is limited and also thedownward movement of the lower section, the lower section being limitedfirst, whereby the upper section has alimited play upon said lowersection. The sections b and b, it will be seen, are arranged a certaindistance apart, so as to produce a slot or opening between them, intowhich the letters are forced, and by arranging the top section to have adefinite amount of play upon the lower section this opening isalternately opened and closed at its opposite ends as the sections arerevolved back and forth, whereby a letter is received by the deliveringdevice and then deposited.

An opening D is produced in the forward side a of the box and oppositethe delivery device, whereby letters are inserted between the sectionsor in the slot or opening, and to guide the same safely into-said slotor opening I employ two plates DD, pivoted upon opposite sides of theopening D and extending inwardly, as shown, the inner ends of saidplates resting within the slot or opening between the sections when thesaid sections are at the forward or lowermost positions and rest againstthe lower sections when the said sections are raised ready to enter theslot or o peningthe moment they are lowered. These plates thereforeguide the letters that are pressed between them into the forward end ofthe slot or opening in the delivery device, and by turning the crankrearward the sections are moved upward" and'rearward, and when the uppersection has reached its rear limit the lower section has yet a limitedplay, whereby the rear end of the slot or opening is opened and theletter deposited.

A rearwardly and downwardly inclined plate E'guidesthe letters to "therear of 'the box, and a supplemental box'or drawerF may be arrangedwithin the box, as shown in Fig. 1,0r aslot G may be produced in therear side of the box,-asshown inwFigLAL; which slot registers'withaslotdn the door or gate,- whereby the letters-willbe deposited in=,a'box or upon the-floor, as. the occupant may prefer.

Should a drawer be used ,-therear side should be" curved; as shown,-whereby the letters deposited within the-samewill be arranged: inregular order and will not 'clog andinterfere with the delivery device.'lhe box or drawer F maybe secured and removed inany suit:

rablemanner. -Itwillbeunderstood-however,

that the con'structionof the delivery and collection receptacleor'boxformsnopart of the present .invention,- such subject-matter form; ingpart ofmy application filed of even date herewith andserially numberedr. 395,775

An electric push-button or mechanicalbell; plunger [-1isarrangedadjacent to the crank O and-inthe .path of thesame,-said-button or plunger extending through the door and con-. nectedwith a=gong H or anyother suitable alarm mechanism arranged eithenat thedoor or-in any particular apartment. A letter is thus insertedintheopening in the box and pressed between the plates into-the slot of. thedeliverydevice. Thecranlr is then turned rearward,-depositing theletter, and by com ing in contact with the button or plunger initsbackwardturn the alarm is sounded and the occupant notified of-adelivery. i Ifdesirerhabox K fornewspapersmay-be hinged at the top ofthe box A, said'box-K having :a lid adjacent "to thesaidbox A,

whereby-papers may be inserted,- and when it is sodesired to insertpapers the box K is turned downuponthe forward side of the box A and thelid- 70, which then forms the-top of the box, raised. The normalposition'of the boxis against the door-abovethe box A, the lid- 7a thenforming the bottom of the box. The lower section b is-weighted,asshownat b and the erank arm,"as-at 0,130 aid tl1e-sec tions intheirautomat-ic movements. It is also obvious that the twosemicylindricalsections constituting a cylindrical deliverydevice could beused upon the ordinarystreet letter-boxes.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination,with a letter-box, of the semi-cylindrical sections journaled therein,having a slot or opening'b'etween them to receive the letter and eachhaving a limited movement upon the other, whereby the letters aredeposited, substantially as shown and described.

I 2. The combination of the letter-box and the semi-cylindrical sectionsjournaled therein, their-flat faces adjacent and apart, said sectionsbeing arranged to move in unison with each other and also upon-eachother, substantially as and for 1 lt-he purp'ose described.

3. The combination;-with the-letter-box, of the lower sections journaledtherein, the-upper sect-ions journaled upon the "journals of lowersect-ion, the slotted head-pieces, and the stop-pins,:all arranged andadapted to operate substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination;-with the letter-b0x, of the semi-cylindricalsections journaled therein, the devi-cefor revolving-the sections; andan alarm-plunger arrangediin-the path of said revolving device andcommunicating Withan' alarm, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

5. The combination,--with the lettenbox, of thesemi-cylind-ricalsectionsjournaledtherein,flthe revolving device," the slotted headpiecesandstop-pins, and the alarm-plunger co m mu nicatin g with? analarm,substantially as shown and described.

6. The combination, with a letter-box havin g an opening, ofthesemi-cylindrical sections j our-naled in -the box opposite tosaidopenin g, and the guiding-plates arranged =upon' opposite sides ofthe opening to guidethedetters between the sections, substantiallyasshown and described.

7. The combinatiomwith atletter box having anopening, of thesemi-cylindrical secnicating withv an alarm, all arranged'substan- 1tially as set 'forth.

8. The combination,- with aletter-box, of a paper-box-hinged to the topof the same, said paper-box being-adapted to be turned down upon theletter-box to receive the papers, substantially as shown and'described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature-in presenceof two witnesses.

WILLIAM CLARK THORNTON. NVitnesses:

1 DANL. GUNDELFINGER,

B: S. MoRnoW.

IOC

